How often have you stood at the Daylodge, looked up the hill to see the clouds lift and break at dusk? Well today the sliding didn't stop as the Sun went down and those who came up during the afternoon or for the evening itself undoubtedly got the best of Thursday, with the Ciste Tow spinning till after 6 and the Ptarmigan Tow under floodlights till 8pm.

By late afternoon the freezing level was dropping and the snow in the Top Basin was beginning to crunch up, not getting icy, but fast granular spring snow that was great to ski. Overhead the sky continued to clear and the wind to moderate, setting the scene for a fine albeit busy evening on CairnGorm Mountain.

On the slopes the thaw of recent days hasn't made a significant change to the open terrain, as though the open terrain is rather limited in extent what is open has a fairly good cover and established base. The Top Basin runs are mostly in good shape, the Ciste Bowl is pretty wide and was great early evening, though it does narrow just before the crossover to the Tow.

The Traverse, 105 and Coire Cas are in good shape, the Gunbarrel is quite narrow and banked like a shallow pipe, but the burn is filled in the full way down. Top two Zig Zags are available for Gunbarrel avoidance, but link over is thin. 3rd Zig Zag is complete, but some walking required from the 4th to get to the mid-station. M1 Poma is open.

Snow showers and strong winds forecast over the next couple of days, should freshen things up and it looks promising weather wise for Sunday.